Another reason for me to hate the state of Mississippi

I have been to Mississippi once and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I've only been to Jackson, but I figure, if that's how it is in the state capitol then the rest of there is no hope for the rest of the state. My impression is that the place got stuck in 1953 or so and just never moved on. One of my favorite blogs summed up my feelings for MS well:

Surprise! Who knew Mississippi was still a state? We just assumed that after the Civil War and Trent Lott, America would just kind of let the lease run out.

Well, I read this little jewel in this month's issue of Essence Magazine:

George Lambus, a Black republican running for mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, says he's tough on crime - and thinks the best way to fight it is to bring back the hanging noose.

Go figure.

Happy Inauguration Day

I have decided to watch the inauguration festitivies at work with my students and co-workers. We're all assembled in 3 locations on campus (I'm in the cafeteria). Everyone is happy and there is a definite buzz in the air - an electric feeling. Baby K (who is very close to getting a name) is ecstatic and bouncing around in my belly. I have my box of tissue and my laptop hooked up on wi-fi. This is arguably the most important day in the history of the US during my lifetime. I am so blessed to be able to witness it! My God, what a great day - not only for the US, but for the world!

GObama!

Well, the weather is back to normal here. No more frigid temperatures, torrential rains or freak snow storms. Gone are my fears of slipping and falling on ice (which I managed to do, but at least it was only once and I was already close to the ground).

This week, my college is celebrating the legacy of MLK with a bevy of invited guest speakers and performing arts ensembles. Its a great time to be on campus because there is so much activity going on. Plus, on the eve of the inauguration of President Obama, there is a sincere feeling of hope and excitment of things to come. The mood is infectious and I find myself smiling for no reason other than being glad to be a living witness to this time in our history.

I've identified my areas of focus for 2009. Last year was a good one, but it was a bit overwhelming and I think I put my mental needs to the side to be sure that other important areas of my life (ie. my marriage, my career(s), my family) where well taken care of. Well, now that I'm confident that things won't fall apart on account of l'il ol' me, I can take care of myself.

The areas that I need to focus on are:

1. My spirituality - Without a local church home and the absence of my ashtanga yoga practice have left a void and my relationship with the Divine has suffered because of it, I think. Good news is I'm pretty sure wer've found a church home and I've carved out 2 hours on one day a week to continue to my yoga practice. Because if there was ever a time for pranayama (breath and control of mind through breathing) then this pregnancy and the impending labor is surely it!

2. My ability to multi-task - This has never been an issue for me, however, I've never been a mommy before (and I'm assuming that my raising of Figaro the wonderdog doesn't count). So, I need to be sure that I can balance parenting, my career, my small business and being an attentive wife all at the same time. This will mean that I must remember to say no to some volunteer activities and try to keep at least an hour of "me" time each week in there somewhere. "Me" time is so important for us only children. We really suffer without it.

3. Having "unplugged" moments - Between my desktop, my laptop, my handheld and the phone at home I rarely get a minute of peace. And when I do find myself with sometime, I'm always scrolling through the DVR list to see what my dear recorder has captured for me while I was preoccupied with something else. Thanks to the writer's strike, I broke it off with quite a few tv shows I used to follow. I'm down to about 3 hours of tv a week and I don't feel so bad about that. Anyway, the more minutes I can spend without logging on to something, I'm sure the better off I will be.

I think if I can master these areas, I can handle whatever 2009 throws my way with a minimum amount of stress and worry. I want to be able to devote most of my energy to my family and I'll be no good to anyone if I don't have a leash on my own special brand of crazy.

YES WE CAN!

Congratulations to America for putting our heads and hearts together to elect a President that stands for something. I hope that 2009 is a new era in American history - an error of CHANGE, a restoration of our high international standing, and a new generation of educated and informed young voters!

After the jump...

One of my favorite blogs has a slew of cool posts and videos in the last couple of days regarding the issues surrounding the upcoming elections. Its too much for me to jack, so check it out after the jump.

Aside: I don't know what role Benicio del Toro is preparing for, but his serial-killer looks in the "Don't Vote" spot have made me fall in love with him all over again.

On being 72 and in charge

I am taking a french class. I love it. This is my second french class here in the Pac NW and I've been happily dusting off my skillz.

My current instructor is a 72 year-old guy. He's smart, witty and quite spry. But, sometimes in class, he goes off on a tangent. Last night we spent 40 minutes listening to him tell a story about the days when he used to teach out [nearby University that thinks too highly of itself]. The story had a great surprise ending. And although he was talking about something that happened "one time in French class", it had nothing to do with Chapitre Deux and even less to do with en parlent francais. It was just a 40 minute digression. This would have been perfectly acceptable at afternoon tea, not so much for my tuition-paid class.

But, he is 72 and these things are bound to happen. Maybe this is what happened to McCain when he mentioned that the average South Korean is three inches taller than the average North Korean. Sure, the discussion was on Korea, but on nuclear complicity, not the correlation between height and ethnicity.

Is this what we have to look forward to with a 72 year-old president? Are these early signs of dementia?

Whenever Monsieur T goes off track, he says "Don't worry about this story, I am old and crazy, I am allowed to ramble." I have a feeling that might not work so well in a meeting with Ahmadinejad. Well, I guess we don't really have to worry about that, because McCain would NEVER have a meeting with the likes of Ahmadinejad. Ever.

Friday's Debates

I enjoyed Friday's debates. I feel like I understand both candidates foreign policy conditions a little bit better. I am disappointed that McCain cannot separate the war in Iraq from the war in Afghanistan, at least in terms of why we went to both places to begin with. Seems he drank the Bush kool-aid on that one.

One question, though: Is it just me, or did it appear that every word out of Obama's mouth completely infuriated McCain? What happened to his composure?

Now the fun starts!

I have been on an election moratorium because the entry of Sarah Palin into the race kind of put me in sensory overload. I had to distance myself from the whole thing. Well, the first presidential debate starts tonight and I am officially back in the game.

I'm going to try my best to watch these things with my impartial eye because that has been an incredibly rewarding experience thus far. I look forward to the upcoming conversations that ensue and I promise not to turn this into a political blog.

My request to you: Please, watch the debates (or read about them the next day in the paper/newsfeed/blog of your choice). Then vote.

I don't know any Alaskans :(

Okay, I've really been enjoying both the Democratic and the Republican National Conventions (clearly for different reasons). This is such an exciting election and I don't want to miss a thing! It has been particularly enriching for me to watch the RNC with an open mind - go figure. I have just been listening to the speeches and taking in as much as I can without my libero-conservative democratic filters on. It has been very gratifying to test my own ideologies against those of modern Republicans.

I make it a point to not force my political beliefs on others, other than to encourage everyone to vote - regardless of who they're voting for. But, I must mention that McCain's choice for VP is quite an offense to me (and women in general, I believe). Why he would choose Sarah Palin over Kay Bailey Hutchinson (now that's a woman I respect and admire) is lost to me. I could spend an hour discussing the many ways I am conflicted by Palin, but I will not subject you to that.

I almost missed my connecting flight back to Seattle to listen to her speech in the airport bar. I was really looking forward to learning more about Gov. Palin. I live in the closest state to her and had never heard of the lady. I was curious to hear about her remedy for the economy. And what is so clever about her ideologies that causes McCain to call her "a breath of fresh air"? What does it mean to be from Alaska (other than eating moose burgers)? Clearly she's pro-life, but what does she think about abstinence education? The mortgage crisis? Overseas outsourcing of jobs? The impending Boeing strike (after all isn't the Repulican party all about the "working man")?

Sadly, she didn't mention any of those things. She reduced herself to snipes and snarks and trying to live up to her high school (and how long ago was that? Grow up!) nickname of "Sarah Barracuda".

With McCain being as fuzzy as always on the issues, I was hoping to hear where the GOP stands on stuff. Unfortunately, I got the most information from all the people that are not applying for jobs in the Oval Office.

A very saavy person (or a person with too much time on their hands) at the Seattle P-I (the big paper here) counted the words in her speech on Wednesday night. Here's the breakdown:

I, me, my = 53
McCain = 16
Opponent = 9
Housing = 0
Environment = 0
Deficit = 0
White House = 2 (the only time she referred to house or housing)
Economy = 1
Jobs = 2
Iraq = 3 (once when referencing her son's deployment)

PS - Why does she consider Obama her opponent? Wouldn't Biden be her opponent? Does any VP candidate really have a personal opponent, since they're kind of just along for the ride? Enlighten me, someone, please!

Yes We Can. New Wil.I.Am video in support of Obama